The new Polo Mecca in Portugal, Interview with Stefan Maria Gast

Argentina Polo Open: the roof of the world

The Argentine Open, the last round of the Triple Crown, is the annual Holy Grail of polo, a kind of Aachen for the sport, in which the forty best players in the world take part, all but two of whom come from Argentina. In Palermo (the venue for this tournament in the heart of Buenos Aires), the legends of this sport have been written and made since 1893. The last and arguably greatest of all time is Adolfo Cambiaso, who at the age of 49 wants to win his 19th title (and 16th with his team La Dolfina) in 32 participations.

The final, which this year will be held on 7 December, will take place in front of almost 18,000 spectators. Apart from the sport, Palermo is THE annual meeting place for the polo world. Dozens of satellite tournaments are held around the city, particularly in Pilar, about 50 km from the capital, where there are no fewer than 500 polo fields. These tournaments are mainly held for the ‘bosses’, the rich enthusiasts from all continents on whom the sport‘s economy relies. Here they hire professional players for the next season, buy horses and equipment. Polo is an important economic factor for the country: more than three quarters of the saddlery produced worldwide comes from Argentina, which is famous for its leather, and 3,000-4,000 polo ponies are exported worldwide every year. Not to be forgotten is the clone business, which is booming after it has developed thanks to polo ponies, especially with the clones of the famous Cuartetera, which the atypical Argentine President Javier Milei, who obviously knows a lot about this sport, considers the best mare of all time… like her rider Adolfo Cambiaso. The two men met at the Casa Rosada last week, incidentally, and discussed the plan to make polo a national sport.

This year, Cambiaso will not defend the title won by his La Natividad nephews last year, but he is, of course, on his way to his twenty-seventh final since his debut at the age of 17. After thirteen years of ‘clásicos’ against Ellerstina, the clash with La Natividad seems to have become the inevitable final in the Open since 2021. But this year, two teams were on a roll, with La Hache (Hilario Ulloa) winning their first title by beating Ellerstina Yellow Rose (Gonzalo Pieres without his brothers but with the dreaded Sapo Caset) in the final of the Open de Tortugas, the second round of the Triple Crown. To qualify, Ellerstina Yellow Rose had beaten La Natividad, among others, who had just won the first round of the Triple Crown, the Hurlingham Open, against La Dolfina with just one goal. This means that nothing has been decided yet between these four teams and they will not face each other until the quarter-finals or, more likely, the semi-finals at the weekend of 29 November.

Family stories

In Argentina, polo is a family affair (and arguably also genetic). There was the incredible saga of the Heguy family: the fathers won the Argentine championship 20 times between 1958 and 1981, and their sons followed suit 10 times between 1991 and 2004. The probable final line-up includes a father and son, Adolfo and Poroto Cambiaso (just as phenomenal as his father), handicap 10 at the age of 19 and 17, their cousins Barto and Jeta Castagnola, also handicap 10 at the same age, and the name Pieres in three different teams. Together, the Pieres brothers had defied La Dolfina between 2008 and 2012, where Facu, Gonzalito and Nico triumphed with their brother-in-law Mariano Aguerre. Then they played with their cousin Polito… But the team didn‘t really work… well, they‘d lost in the final. They were all handicap 10, but the team fell apart and Facu now plays with the defending champion La Natividad, Polito for La Hache, while Gonzalito is rebuilding a new Ellerstina. As for Nico, with the help of Delpharm‘s French general manager, Sébastien Aguettant, with whom he won last year‘s Open de France in Chantilly, he has built a team with the young talents of tomorrow, Lorenzo Chavanne (16) and Beltrán Laulhé (17), who were also seen winning in Chantilly. The La Zeta-Kazak team had to go through the qualifiers: mission accomplished, now it‘s a matter of staying in ‘Ligue 1’!

This start to the tournament has also allowed young talents to flourish or to be confirmed, such as Rufino Bensadon, also a regular on French courts, who has excelled in team 2 of La Dolfina (victory over Ellerstina in Tortugas and over La Ensenada in Palermo), Facundo Llosa, the husband of Hazel Jackson and a real discovery at La Aguada, or Tomas Panelo, who is often decisive for La Hache.

In short, an Abierto more exciting than ever, and we can‘t wait to be there… that will be next week!

These champions in France

Of the sixteen potential semi-finalists, eleven players have already played in France, in Chantilly and/or Deauville, which says a lot about the quality of the polo played at the Barnes Open de France or the Coupe d‘Or.

A fifth team can be considered as outsiders in Palermo: La Ensenada, who put up a great fight against La Natividad in the semi-finals last year, beating La Dolfina in Tortugas, albeit without Adolfo Cambiaso. Juan M. Zubía and Jeró del Carril also won in Chantilly.

Top 5 of the 10 teams in the running for the 131st Argentine Open

La Natividad: Jeta Castagnola (10), Facundo Pieres (10), Pablo Mac Donough (10) and Barto Castagnola (h) (10). Total handicap: 40

La Dolfina Saudi: Adolfo Cambiaso (10), Pelon Stirling (10, Uruguay), Poroto Cambiaso (10) and Juan M. Nero (10). Total handicap: 40

Ellerstina UAE Yellow Rose: Sapo Caset (9), Lucas Monteverde Jr. (8), Gonzalito Pieres (9) and Nachi du Plessis (9, South Africa). Total handicap: 35

La Hache P.T.: Polito Pieres (9), Hilario Ulloa (9), Fran Elizalde and Tomás Panelo (9). Total handicap: 36

La Ensenada Dietrich: Juan Britos (9), Alfredo Bigatti (9), Juan M. Zubía (9) and Jeró del Carril (9). Total handicap: 36